1. ¹Italian Society of Urology, Roma, Italy
2. ²Uropathology Section, Institute of Pathological Anatomy and Histopathology, Polytechnic University of the Marche Region (Ancona), School of Medicine, United Hospitals, Torrette, Ancona, Italy
3. ³Aging Research Center, G. d'Annunzio University Foundation, Chieti, Italy
4. ⁴Department of Urology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy
5. ⁵Department of Urology, University Federico II of Naples, Naples, Italy

Correspondence: Professor AV Bono, Medical Point, Italian Society of Urology, via Veratti 3, Varese 21100, Italy. E-mail: urolva@interfree.it

Received 15 October 2007; Revised 14 December 2007; Accepted 18 December 2007; Published online 1 April 2008.

Abstract

Androgen ablation is thought to exert selective pressure for the development of androgen-independent forms of prostate cancer. This study was set up to investigate the effects of surgical castration on the development of prostate adenocarcinoma (ADC) from its precursor (high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN)) and on the occurrence of androgen-independent, poorly differentiated carcinoma (PDC) in (C57Bl/6 transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate) TRAMP mice. It was found that castration cures HGPIN and ADC and prevents their further occurrence and growth, but has no effect on PDC. This indicates that in this model, PDC is not the progression of ADC favoured by androgen ablation and that its initiating cells are different from those of HGPIN and ADC.